Wednesday, December 16, 2009

So, Chrismukkah has come right on time in the Sepinwall household, where I just finished devouring a care package of the first five episodes of "Chuck" season three. (In case you missed it, NBC released the new key art poster yesterday.)

The short version: if you're somebody who bought a Subway sandwich on the night "Chuck vs. the Ring" aired, or if you somehow hate sandwiches but love "Chuck" anyway, or if you're just a fan of TV shows that are both fun and awesome, then you'll be pleased with what "Chuck" will have going on when it returns on January 10. I'm typing this blog post with a goofy smile plastered across my face, and I suspect it's not going away for a while.

A slightly longer, mostly spoiler-free (save for some premise and guest-casting stuff that spoiler-phobic creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak have been fine putting out there) take coming up after the jump...

So Chuck now knows kung fu, and a whole bunch of other cool spy stuff, but the essence of "Chuck" hasn't changed. It's still a show about an ordinary guy who has stumbled into life as a spy, and his new superpowers aren't reliable enough to suddenly turn him into another Captain Awesome. (Awesome, meanwhile, is struggling to deal with his brother-in-law's secret identity.) He's still Chuck Bartowski, for good and for ill, and while his abilities and position in spy world have evolved, they don't take away from what made the show so entertaining in the first place. (At the same time, he gets to be just assertive and competent enough on occasion that it could sway people who've said they would like the show if the lead was less of a wimp and/or bumbler.)

The guest casting remains top-notch, with good use of the likes of Vinnie Jones, Armand Assante and Brandon (Superman) Routh, to name just three of the familiar faces who pop up in these early episodes. The music's pretty kick-ass, too, both the ironic stuff (Emmett Millbarge's taste in power ballads is about what you'd expect), and the usual Schwartz/Alex Patsavas indie rock selections. (Jeffster!, alas, does not perform in any of these five episodes, but I'm sure that's coming.) There's action, and comedy, and romance and the usual buoyancy we came to expect from the show last season. We lose Anna Wu for budgetary reasons, alas, but Morgan, Jeff and Lester all pick up the slack nicely.

Looking forward to discussing this all in more depth on Jan. 10 and 11 (don't forget: three episodes are airing over those two nights, in a "24"-style roll-out), but just in case anyone was worried that the show would somehow lose its mojo after a late season run that featured stuff like Jeffster! crashing a wedding and Casey kicking ass with a radiator, don't freak out. It's the show you remember, just with some occasional tactical upgrades.

would season three be a good jumping on point if I have never watched the show before?

I'd say season 2 would be more ideal (though, in a case of bad timing, the DVDs won't be released until five days before season 3 debuts). But while you'll miss out on some character details, some of the relationship stuff with Chuck and Sarah, and some running jokes, it's not that complicated a show to jump into at any point. Chuck's a nerd who became an accidental spy, he's in love with the gorgeous blonde who works as his handler, etc., etc., etc.

Regarding the Chuck and Sarah relationship, critics and fans alike have raised concerns that the show can only go to the "will they, won't they" well so many times to keep them apart without it seeming contrived. Schwartz has repeatedly mentioned, including at the Comic-Con panel, that the tension remains this season.

Having watched the first 5 episodes, do you feel the writers have been able to maintain the tension in the relationship in a way that does not feel contrived?

I am interested to hear your general thoughts on this without spoiling anything.

Hi Alan, thanks for the report! I can't wait for Chuck to return, and me living in Spain, this is a looong time! All the promos are awesome, I hope this time there will be no need for fan movements. I hope Chuck gets Season 4 for sure!

Frankly, it's all I can do just to keep from watching the sequence for the 50th time so I can finish writing the review. DVR technology may cease to exist, and I'm still going to have this episode saved at Keep Until I Delete status just so I can watch it whenever I'm having a bad day.

I still have mine saved and I watch it every couple of weeks. Counting the days til season 3!

I absolutely can not wait until January 10. I know I'm going to have to fight my husband AND my father for control of the TV that night and I don't care.

I remember someone (was it Linda Holmes, I forget) talking about how there are some shows you "mainline" (i.e. wait for the DVD and then watch every episode) and some shows you "drip" (watch once a week). This is a show I would mainline if I could, but I have no choice but to drip. I'm happy I'll get to do a mini-mainline of it.

If it helps at all, there are 8 episodes of Chuck on Hulu -- the Season 1 Pilot and 6 good/representative eps from Season 2. If you are new to the show and like what you see on Hulu, you should check out the marathon on Syfy Jan. 7.

Just got my Chuck screeners today and have only seen Ep 1 of Season 3 so far (but the night is still young). My intellectual critical reaction: God, I love this show.

Well, Julia Ling was being wasted on Chuck anyway as Morgan's gf. Hope she can parlay the role into something bigger. True Blood? Community? NCIS? Any other show, basically; ratings-wise, the show is good quality popcorn tv.

I'm really sorry to lose Anna Wu--she was terrific. But if she's gone, and Morgan's there....does this mean they're no longer together and he's not pursuing his dream of being a Benihana chef in Hawaii? Tragic!

I'll be out of the country from January 4th through January 21st. My DVR had BEST NOT fail me.

ah, how the tables turn. my BF who does't watch Network TV (henceforth BTWDWNTV) called me to say - the screeners are out! people are talking! and I said Has Alan? :-) (and then she reas it to me along with Darth Razorback who was, at least from what I heard, amazingly spoiler free but still good)

Sorry, Fox, but if it was your goal to get me to watch "House" instead of "Chuck", you failed. Seems pretty pointless to randomly bring "House" back for a week only to pull it again with, I'm assuming, the goal of stealing away from the *massive* "Chuck" audience? Please. Both Fox and the handful of "House" fans that seem to want "Chuck" to fail for whatever reason, need to get a grip. Nevermind that it could hurt "House" for no reason. Didn't the ads say that they weren't returning until February? And since Fox doesn't tend to advertise anything that's not Idol, that ep could come and go with casual viewers not even noticing.

Had never watched Chuck before. Based on Alan's comments these past two years, as well as Mo Ryan's fondness for the show, I downloaded the first two seasons off iTunes. Have spent the quiet moments over the holidays catching up on this show, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Looking forward to Season 3.